id Rutledge, 18, is one step clo

NEWS phote Srad Ledwidge (above); Photo submitted (right)
ser to his dream of driving Indy cars. The

h Shore teenager spent the summer at the Bridgestone Driving School
Dntario, learning to handle the power and size of F2000 Series race cars
ht). Next weekend he’s competing in an F2000 race in Las Vegas.

drew NicCredia
nsinity Editor

¥’ old North Skore
ves to drive fast.

Unlike his peers, however,
ledge ‘does so with no concern
¢ dreaded radar gun.
Hin fact, since he. was 13
Meledge has been melting radar
at go-kart tracks throughout

Pacific Northwest. Along the :-

fic has built a'reputation as a
ied and capable driver.
Fittingly, in the same summer
graduated from Argyle

onidaty Schoo}, Rutledge grad-

id to bigger, faster and more
erful race cars at the presti-
Bridgestone Racing School
hannonville, Ontario. He
t the better part of the past
months honing his skills and
ning how to drive two-litre
NOO Series race cars —~ a step-
‘stone to Indy Lights, which
is a stepping stone toa
eted Indy ride. a
Former students at the
dgestone school include Fl
r Jacques Villeneuve, Penske.
rdriver Paul Tracy, rookie
y driver Greg Moore and cur-
it. Indy Lights’ champion David
pringham.
Heady stuff for any 18-yzor-
but the cool, collected
tledge takes it all in stride.
“Some people can get out of a
kart and hop in an (F2000 .
and not do well,”. the under-
ed ‘driver admits. “I actually
ray very, first race in the
in the rain.”
In addition to learning the
ces Of a heavier and quicker
zap speed at Shannonville is
125'm.p.h. (201 km-h) —
pe spent time.in the
°s shop stripping and
wilding race: cars,“
ek today Rutledge will

put those racing school lessons to
the test in Las Vegas, driving one
of four RCM Motorsports cars
entered in the United States
Formula Ford 2000 series race.
:“The Las Vegas race will give
me some experience in the pro
circuit, and that’s what we want
to do next year,” says Rutledge,
adding that the Vegas F2000 race

‘will be run just one hour before

the day’s main event, an Indy

_ Racing League race. “I’ve heard
there could be over 100,000 peo-

le there, so it’s gcing to be a real
ot event.”

The royal ‘we’ Rutiedge uses is
in reference to the Rutledge
Racing Team, consisting of him-
self, his dad Don and his younger
brother Kristopher, who sat out
the past go-karting season with a
broken arm (from skiing, not rac-
ing). The trio have spent thou-
sands of hours over the past five
years in pursuit of go-kart glory.
And thousands of dollars. The
team’s 1995 budget topped out
at $45,607.

“You need a good dad,” David
says, without hesitation, when
asked what one needs to start in
racing. “You need a dad who
works hard and is able to figure
things out.”

That dedication of dollars and
sense is beginning to pay off as
interest in David’s driving skills
continues to grow. In a recent test
at Shannonville with RCM
Motorsports of Indianapolis,
Rutledge came within a whisper
of shattering the course record.
For a young man who drives so
fast to make your head spin, his is
firmly planted on his shoulders.

“Pye kind of made a pact with

‘my tom and grandparents to

keep up my schooling, just in case
racing doesn’t work out I need
something to fall back on.”

Butwith his foot hard down
on the pedal, i?s unlikely David
Rutledge will fall behing on, or
olf, the track.

Water replacing
gold as Alaska’s

prized resource
By lan Noble 7
News Reporter

A B.C, company export-
ing water to China?

-Can’t be. Like bike riding
sans helmet, the government
won’t aliow it.

But Global Water
Corporation, chaired by 35-
year Lynn Valley resident Don
Hamilton, isn’t exporting B.C.
water to China,

Instead, the company’s
water originates in Alaska, a
state that gave its first-ever
water export license Tuesday
to the town of Sitka (pop.

8,500), which suffered after a°

Japanese lumber company
pulled out in 1993. That
approval opened the floodgates
for Global.

Earlier, Global and Sitka
had reached a deal allowing the
Vancouver firm to take up to 4
billion gallons of water from
the town’s Blue Lake and dis-
tribute it worldwide.

First, Hamilton told the
News, the water will go to
China, a country with a lot of
thirsty mouths but a lack: of

See Corp. page 25

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

NORTH Vancouver’s Don.
. Hamilton is chairman of a

Canadian-Chinese joint
venture setling Alaskan
water to the Chinese.

ear oppo

iF
Wa

Sunday, September 8, 1996 -- North Shore News —

a

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